Ashes to Ashes
by mustachey5
Summary: A short one shot based on the scene in the office from Ashes to ashes (Lehu a lehu) 6.02. Inspired by LuckStarPham :)
1. Chapter 1

_A/N: A super super short one shot from the office scene in 6x02(Ashes to Ashes/ Lehu a Lehu), based on a prompt by LuckStarPham- let me know what you think!_

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 **Ashes to Ashes  
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Steve flicks from screen to screen, his eyes scanning the images that have begun to blur into one. He pauses for a moment, wiping his tired eyes and stifling a yawn. He's been monitoring the live feeds for the past 5 hours, waiting, determined to find the two men that had escaped their grasp earlier that day. He's frustrated, knowing it was his mistake that has led to these two dangerous men being on the loose, roaming his island.

Having Catherine helping the team had been a god send, with Kono away they needed all the help they could get. Steve had missed having her on the team, he'd missed working with her. She was a brilliant asset to the team and he hoped that if she stayed, she'd consider coming back to the team.

He wants to talk to her, to clear the air between them. There had been an air of unease between the two, neither quite willing to take the first step and start the long overdue conversation. He'd lied to Danny when he'd accused him of being scared, Steve was petrified about their talk. He knew how much was at stake and he couldn't bring himself to even think of losing her again. The past year had been absolute hell and the thought of having that for a lifetime was beyond unbearable. She wouldn't go back- surely? He almost couldn't bare to ask her, but he knew he had to. They needed to talk about the past year, they had left it in a mess, and they needed to clear everything up. Only then could they move forward.

Catherine approached the glass walls of the office, watching him silently through the door. He looked tired, exhausted. She could see the stress written all over his face, knowing that he was probably beating himself up for the events of the day. He always took his work to heart, every case, every mission, he would throw himself in 110% and though she knew it got the job done, and it got done well, it left him vulnerable. The cases and missions haunted him, even ones that went well. She'd lost count over the years of the times she'd woken to find the bed beside her empty, she'd go looking for him and find him pacing in the office downstairs, rereading case material or simply sat in silence watching the waves crash against the small stretch of shoreline at the end of their lot. Sometimes he just wouldn't sleep at all, he'd occupy his mind with something else, normally fixing up his father's beloved marquis. Things had gotten better when she'd been stationed more permanently on the island, she knew Steve struggled being on his own. He'd never admit it to anyone, and she doubted he truly realised and accepted what it was, but those insecurities, that fear of being abandoned still clung to him. She tried to stem those fears, to show him that she was there for him and that she wasn't going anywhere and slowly but surely he had come to realise that too. The shadows in his eyes had cleared, replaced with a little sparkle of hope, his nightmares decreased and eventually stopped. He relaxed, he began to let people in, the walls he'd so painstakingly built around his heart began to crumble.

She looked at the man before her now, he'd been alone for a year. Alone after cases that she knew would have gone wrong. Danny had told her all about Wo Fat and his torture. He'd been alone through that, no one at home to remind him he was safe, that he was loved. No one to wake up beside to remind him that it was all just a dream, no one to hold and chase those nightmares away. She wondered how much of the progress they'd made together in bringing him out of that dark shell had been undone. It hurt her to think about it, a deep aching pain in her chest, guilt. She had left him, she was the reason he'd been alone. Or at least she thinks he was alone, no one had mentioned him having moved on, he'd not said so and when she'd been to his house she could still see her stuff lying around in the bedroom and the bathroom- hardly an inviting sign for a new girlfriend. She sighed and pushed those thoughts to the back of her mind as she cracked the door open, knocking gently to get his attention.

"Hey" Steve says as he looks up, a smile forming in his face.

"Hey, Anything?" She replied, tilting her head in a question. Steve sighed, turning away from the screen and shaking his head.

"Nothing." He throws his pen to the desk in frustration as he runs his hands down his tired face.

"I'm sorry" Catherine says quietly as she slips into the room closing the door behind her.

"Best thing you can do right now? Come home, get some rest." She continued as she rounded his desk leaning down and placing her hand over his. Steve's heart jumped in his chest at the way she said home, but he shook his head.

"I can't find Gabriel, now I lost both of these guys. How am I supposed to sleep knowing they're out there?" He sighed as he looked up at her, a lost expression on his face that made her heart ache. She wished more than anything that she could take away the pain and stress that was troubling him, that she could take him home and hold him, that she could magically solve his problems and find the missing men. But she couldn't. She squeezed his hand gently and nodded.

"Job always comes first" She smiled, brushing a hand across his cheek, his five o'clock shadow making the skin rough. She hadn't really expected him to agree to getting rest- that just wasn't Steve. He won't rest until the job is done, and that's one of the many reasons she loves him. She just wished that he would care for himself as much as he cared for everyone else, he was nothing if not selfless, but he needed some there to look after him, to remind him that he was just as important as anyone else.

"Yeah" Steve nodded, the soft smile on his face making her melt inside. She'd missed this so much, the way that one look from him could make her feel weak at the knees.

"I'll go get you some coffee" She suggested with a smile and a final squeeze of his hand. She straightened and turned to leave but he caught her wrist, turning her back to him.

"Cath" He began but paused. They had barely had any time alone together since she'd been back. Between the wedding, and the various cases that had sprung up out of nowhere it felt like he'd hardly seen her. She looked down at him and the words froze in his mouth, there was still a part of him that just couldn't believe she was here, that she was back in Hawai'i let alone in his office. It took everything in him not to pull her down into his lap and just hold her- he'd missed her touch, her calming presence, but he didn't dare do anything until they'd spoken properly about her return and if she was planning on staying.

"Yeah?"

"I was hoping.. I was kind of hoping that you and I could spend some time together.." He said, his heart beating faster and faster. He'd missed her so much and there were times when he almost had to pinch himself to believe that she was actually here.

"We will" She promised and it felt like his heart was doing somersaults in his chest. His hand tightened on her wrist, his thumb subconsciously drawing tiny patterns on the soft skin of her arm.

"Thanks for coming home." He whispered, his voice breaking slightly and her heart clenched at the emotion in his voice. She leaned forward, placing her hands on either side of his face as she pressed a kiss to his forehead, before leaning her forehead against his.

"There is no other place that I would rather be." She whispered and his heart jumped to his throat, he slipped a hand to her neck, moving her head down until their mouths were just a breath apart. His eyes flickered open, looking at her face, searching her eyes for any hesitance or resistance but he saw none, so he finally closed the gap, tilting her head gently in his hand as he sealed their lips together. It wasn't their first kiss since she returned to the island, nor their most passionate- her mind flashed back to the wedding and how he'd kissed her then, making her knees go weak, but this kiss was different. Gentle, a promise of something more and it set butterflies of in her chest. It was like their first kiss all over again, the gentle press of lips, an outpouring of the emotions and words that neither could voice and it was almost too much for her to handle. They broke apart, barely an inch between them and she could feel his warm breath tickling her sensitive skin. Forgot feeling weak in the knees her head was swimming with thoughts and feelings and she struggled to find her words.

"I'm going to get you that coffee" She stuttered eventually and he laughed softly.

"To be continued?" He asked, brushing her hair gently behind her ear.

"Definitely" She agreed, pressing a kiss to his forehead again before standing. She paused at the door and looked back at Steve.

"We'll talk later, I promise, work is important but so are you. I won't let anything get in the way." He promised and she smiled at him before slipping from the room.

She returned a few minutes later, holding the steaming cup careful of burning her fingers.

"What's happened?" Catherine asks as Steve dashed round the corner in a tizz, fixing his holster to his hip.

"Duclair called, he wants to meet me" Steve explained as he walked towards her, hitting the button to call the elevator.

"Where?" She asked, handing him the steaming cup of coffee, he smiled a thanks at her and took a sip.

"Restaurant down town." He said as the elevator arrived and he jumped in, Catherine following him.

"Did he say what he wants?" She asked as the doors opened to the car park and they marched towards Steve's truck.

"No. Where are you going?" He asked as she followed him round to the drivers side.

"I'm driving" She smiled up at him, pulling the keys from his pocket before he could say anything and she nodded towards his drink.

"Drink up Sailor" He stands in shock for a moment, before shaking his head a smile on his face as he opens the passenger door and drops in beside her. He really has missed her.


	2. Author's Note

This is just a message to say that at this point in time I am not writing any updates for any of my work and have no plans to update them in the foreseeable future.

The past few months have been very stressful for me both at work and at home and I've decided that while I had a lot of work planned out for my stories, and some stuff part written, I will no longer continue my work in the fiction world. I will leave my work on the website so it will still be available for you to read and maybe at a later point I will start writing again but at this point in time I'm going to be taking a long hiatus.

I plan to try and post 3 final chapters/snippets that I had semi completed sometime in the near future.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me and who enjoyed the little that I did write, your reviews and words of encouragement always bought a smile to my face.

Mustachey5


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